A Life in Concert With the Arts

The voice is warm, urbane and gentlemanly in an old-school European manner. But don’t be deceived. Conductor Bernard Haitink knows how to play hardball.

Prior to the recent closure of London’s Royal Opera House--for a controversial four-year renovation project that ultimately cost $300-million--Haitink felt he had to play his ace. He resigned the post of music director, which he had held since 1989, then “allowed” himself to be coaxed back after concessions on all sides were made.

“I had to use that as a weapon,” Haitink, 73, said recently from Vienna, where he was rehearsing with the Vienna Philharmonic. Haitink and the philharmonic are appearing today through Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“There was a crisis. There was going to be a closure of the house; then they would start with a clean sheet. That would not be as easy as they thought. I succeeded in keeping the orchestra and chorus and music intact because it’s not easy to get good people back.”

Eventually, he agreed to stay through 2002.

“I think I proved to be right. The opera house is open again [as of December 2000]. This season is extremely successful. That is satisfactory. There was a lot of controversy. All of a sudden, that controversy has disappeared. There’s literally no criticism anymore, which also is alarming because an opera house needs to invite criticisms.”

But now, after 15 years, Haitink is making good on his plan to leave the Royal Opera. His tour as invited conductor with the Vienna orchestra is more indicative of his future: mostly symphonic work. He’ll soon be taking over the musical leadership of the Dresden Staatskapelle, and he will continue his guest conducting, as well.

“I am not a spring chicken anymore, but I’m optimistic enough to have accepted Dresden,” Haitink said. “An opera house is a hothouse. There are so many interests you have to work with--directors, scenic designers, management.”

Directors in particular make things hot in opera land.

“Having worked with Peter Hall and Trevor Nunn, those were a great match,” Haitink said. “But Wagner said an awful thing when he said, ‘You must always do something new.’ [Directors] take that to heart, excessively.”

By comparison, he says, “a symphony comes close to being paradise.”

Haitink came late to opera, after a long symphonic career, so he knows the differences well.

Born in Amsterdam on March 4, 1929, he first worked as a violinist in the Radio Philharmonic in Hilversum, then after some conducting studies, began leading the orchestra. In 1961, he became the youngest-ever principal conductor at the prestigious Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, in a joint appointment with Eugen Jochum. In 1964, Haitink took over sole responsibility of the ensemble and stayed until 1988.

He was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic from 1967-79, becoming its president in 1990. He has been principal guest conductor of the Boston Symphony since 1995. He made his American debut in 1958, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Clearly, Haitink prefers long associations to hopscotching guest appearances, even through he has led most of the major orchestras of the world. He also has a long recording history with EMI, including operas by Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Strauss, Britten and others. It was not until 1972 that he conducted his first opera, Mozart’s “The Abduction From the Seraglio” at Glyndebourne, where in 1977 he succeeded John Pritchard as musical director.

All along, however, he was conducting the symphonic music close to his heart, some of which he’ll perform with the Vienna Philharmonic in Costa Mesa--Haydn, Mozart, Bruckner, Strauss and Berg.

“It’s all music of Vienna,” he said. “The Vienna Philharmonic can’t ignore 19th century Romantic repertory, and Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra is very Viennese, in the sense that it was finished Aug. 10, 1914, right before the Great War broke out. [It has the] symbolic feeling of near catastrophe. I think it is appropriate now.”

Haitink realizes that orchestras have their own hothouse issues. He had no comment on the Vienna Philharmonic’s 150-plus-year-old policy (rescinded just prior to its 1997 tour to the United States) of excluding women, other than to say that “the Viennese are conservatives and like to stick to the old rules. But there are quite a number of women who play in other orchestras in Vienna.”

Regardless of the makeup of the orchestra, each ensemble should have its own unique style, he said, and that’s another challenge in the world of symphonic music.

“The danger now is that orchestras tend to sound like each other. Because maybe the CD, or the international thing. Let’s face it. We all travel. Orchestras travel. That’s a danger also for artists and for conductors. It’s very important that one keeps one’s own character.”

Haitink’s character, at least in conducting, has been called “undemonstrative.” He is described as a leader who allows the music to speak for itself. He feels that what’s on the page must be respected, but he says that’s only the starting point.

He recalls great performances that were not exactly to the letter, he said. “Art is something of human beings, and it would be awful for all of us to do exactly the same thing. Music is such an elusive art. I conduct pieces that I have lived with my whole musical life. I’m grateful for that. It’s wonderful to evolve with them. I never get bored.”

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Bernard Haitink will lead the Vienna Philharmonic in three different programs today through Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $34 to $109. (714) 556-2787.